Automatic sprinkler-head.



'W; B. HAMMOND.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER HEAD.

APPLICATION FILED 001 .22, 1909.

1,030,299, Patented June 25, 1912.

WILBERFORCE B. HAMMOND, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER-HEAD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1912.

Application filed. October 22, 1909. Serial No. 524,080.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, VVILBnRroRcn B. HAM- MOND, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Boston, county of Suffolk, State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in AutomaticSprinkler-I-Ieads, of which the following description, in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters onthe drawing representing like parts.

In another application, Serial No. 511,174, filed by me the fourth dayof August, 1909, I have shown and described means whereby afire-extinguishing sprinkler system can be utilized under normalconditions to serve as a hot water heating system without detractingfrom the efliciency or interfering with the performance of the usualfunctions of the sprinkler system when demanded. In such invention Ihave provided means for effecting the circulation of hot water throughthe usual piping of the sprinkler system, so that the piping will bemaintained hot and will radiate heat for the requisite heating of theroom or building equipped with the system. As the piping is thus raisedto a relatively high temperature the conduction of the heat therefrom tothe metallic sprinkler heads is rapid and continuous, and inasmuch asthe heads are frequently set to opcrate at a temperature of about 155 Iprovide means in my said application to insulate the sprinkler headsfrom the heat of the circulating water, forming heat-insulating bodiesof dead air and water adjacent the sprinkler heads.

My present invention has for its object the production of means toprevent the operation of a sprinkler head by conducted heat, so that ina combined sprinkler and heating system the operation of the therm0-static controlling device of a sprinkler head will depend upon the risein temperature of the adjacent air, and cannot operate through theaction of conducted heat.

As my present invention may be embodied in various practical forms Ihave selected for description and illustration several practicalconstructions, but it is to be understood that. they are illustrative ofmy invention and the same may be varied in many particulars as togeneral construction and arrangement without departing from the spiritandv scope of my invention.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a well known form of automaticsprinkler head with one form of my present invention embodied therein;Fig.2 is a sectional detail thereof on the line 22, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional detail, looking down, taken on the line 33, Fig. 1;Fig. 4 is a side elevation and part section of a sprinkler headembodying yet another form of my in vention; Fig. 5 is a verticalsectional detail thereof on the line 55, Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an undersideview of the metallic cap on the insulating plug shown in Figs. 4 and 5;Fig. 7 is a similar view of another embodiment of my invention, to bereferred to.

In the several embodiments of my invention herein illustrated themetallic base 12 of the sprinkler head, having a threaded, tubularnipple 13 constituting the discharge outlet for the water, the centrallyapertured diaphragm 14, Fig. 1, normally closed by a glass or porcelainbutton-valve or closure 15, the metal links 16, 17 connected by solderfusible at a predetermined temperature, and the arms 18 fixedlyconnected with the base 12, may be and are all of usual or well knownconstruction, the connected links interposed between the valve 15 andthe connected ends of the arms 18 retaining the valve seated and therebymaintaining the discharge outlet closed until a predetermined rise intemperature fuses the solder and permits the links to separate.Ordinarily a thin metal plate 19 caps the valve, the end of link 16bearing thereon, and it is very common practice to run the fusiblesolder up around the outer end of the link 17 and upon the adjacentmetal at the junction of arms 18, so that if the sprinkler head issubjected to a rise in temperature the heat therefrom is transmitteddirectly and rapidly by conduction to the sensitive or cont-rollingelement, viz :'the solder. Should 'such a sprinkler head be connected bythe usual coupling with'the supply or service conduit or pipe and hotwater circulated therethrough the pipe and the whole sprinkler headwould be subjected by conduction to a very rapid and extensive rise intemperature, so that the solder would fuse when there was no demand forthe operation of the head. This will be readily understood when it isremembered that the operating temperature of the head is about 155,while the temperature of the circulating water may be anywhere from 200up to 240 and the containing piping would then have a temperature farabove the operating temperature of the head. To prevent the head fromoperating by conducted heat under such circumstances I provide heatinsulating means, and in the structure shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 Iinterpose a disk 20'of heatinsulating material, such as asbestos fiber,between the end of the link 16 and the plate 19 on the valve 15, and asecond insulating member 21 of similar material is interposed betweenthe junction of the metal arms 18 and the adjacent end of the link 17,as clearly shown in Fig. 2. By reference to said figure it will be seenthat the offset end of said link 17 fits around and receives the bentportion of the insulating member 21, and by the members 20 and 21 thesensitive solder is effectually insulated from the action of conductedheat through the arms or through the valve. Consequently the opera; tionof the sprinkler head is prevented until through radiation the solder isfused by a rise in the temperature of the surrounding air to thepredetermined or abnormal point, notwithstanding the fact that the baseand arms of the head may, by conduction of heat from the hot waterpiping, be at very much higher temperature.

Should it. be desired to solder the end of the link 17 to its supportingmeans it may be accomplished by the construction illustrated in Figs. 4,5 and 6, wherein the junction of the arms 18 is socketed at 22 toreceive a plug 23 of heat-insulating material, having on its projectingend a metal cap 24 pro vided with a transverse rib'25. This rib fitsinto the oflset end of link 17, and the fusible solder connecting thelinks can be extended to solder the link and the cap 24 together, thecap being held away from contact with the metal of the sprinkler head bythe projecting end of the plug 23. The rib25 serves to position the endof link 17 and prevents it from slipping out of place.

In the construction shown in Fig. 7 the hub 33 of the coupling or T 3ahas screwed into it an internally threaded sleeve 35 provided with avery thin, radially-extended and circular flange 36, preferably slightlyconed, as shown, and provided with small perforations 37, this flangeradiating heat very'rapidly by reason of its large area and small amountof metal. The nipple 13 of the sprinkler head is screwed into the sleeve35, and the heat is given 01% from the sleeve so rapidly by radiationover the surface of the flange that very little will pass to thesprinkler head, and such heat is radiated or diffused from the head intothe surrounding air by the deflector 38, made very thin and of largearea for the purpose, and also provided with small perforations 39.While the deflector thus serves as a heat radiator and difiuser it isready to act as a deflector for the water when the sprinkler headoperates.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the essential result to besecured in a sprinkler head used in a sprinkler system used also for hotwater heating is the prevention of an undue rise in the temperature ofthe sensitive element of the head by conduction of heat thereto, and Ihave shown several ways by which the result desired may be secured in apractical and simple manner without in any way detracting from theeiflciency of the sprinkler head when its operation is called for.

As many different constructions have been devised for sprinkler heads itis impossible to illustrate my invention in all of its applications, noris it necessary so to do, for in all types of sprinkler heads known tome the thermostatic controlling member or element sensitive to abnormalheat is an essential feature, and my invention comprehends means toinsulate such part, elementor device from the action of conducted heat.

Having fully described my invention,what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. A metallic sprinkler-head adapted to beconnected with a water-supply conduit and having a. thermostaticcontrolling member, combined with means carried by the head to diffusethe heat transmitted thereto by conduction from the supply conduit.

2. A sprinkler-head adapted to be connected with a supply conduitarranged for the circulation of hotwater, said head having a controllingmember operative upon a predetermined rise in the temperature of theadjacent air, combined with means carried by the head and normallyacting to diffuse the heat transmitted to the head by conduction fromsaid conduit, to thereby prevent improper operation of said controllingmem ber.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILBERFORCE B. HAMMOND. Witnesses:

JOHN C. EDWARDS,

THOMAS J DRUMMOND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

